Anaxagoras was a Greek philosopher of the 5th century. He was the first Pre-Socratic philosopher to live in Athens. He came from a Aristocratic family but abandoned it to study philosophy. He had a physical theory that "everything-in-everything". He was nicknamed 'The Mind' for his belief in how the mind played an important role in life. He believed that the mind was divine and spoke of it as if it was divinty. He was described by Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD.
Biography
Anaxagoras was born in Clazomenae, near Izmir. The years are estimated 500 to 480 B.C.He lived from about 500 B.C. to about 428 B.C. He came from an aristocratic family but left that inheritance to study philosophy. He was possibly a pupil of Anaximus. He moved to Athens after the war between Persia and Greece. Anaxagoras was believed to be the first to teach in Athens. He was acquainted with Pericles and Euripides in Athens. Athens became rich and prosphered from the leadership of Pericles. Pericles governed by free choice of citizens. Pericles ruled for about 30 years until his fall in 430 B.C. When that happened Anaxagoras was urged to leave athens. He was being prosecuted for impiety and for holding an astronomical theory, which included the view that the sun is a red hot boy, that is larger tahtn the peloponnes.The Peloponnese was a greek war was fought by Athens with the Spartans. He fled to Lampascus, there he died an honored death in 428 B.C.
Major Works
We have no complete works but scholars have found fragments and can put together his line of thought.
Philosophy
Metaphysical Principles
He believed everything was a work of the mind(Nous). He said that all things were together: then mind came and gave them order. He was nicknamed the mind because he believed that the mind held a divine position in life. He assigned a fundamental cosmological role to mind both as the iniator of motion. The nature of the mind, according to Anaxagoras, is hard to decipher because the mind has contradictory properties. He also believed that everything is in everything. Which means whatever a thing changes into is in some way already present before it changes. Which is basically all qualities are present in all things. Homoiomereiai, which means things with like parts, are of each other. Such as when a warm liquid cools it is believed to that the hot liquid becomes cold.
Physical Principles
He animated the principle of plants and animals. Everything is a mixture of ingredients. Nowhere in his fragments, does Anaxagoras tell what the ingredients are but scholars have began to try and put together his meanings. One of the guesses are opposites such as: hot and cold, wet and dry, sweet and bitter, dark and light. But other fragments contradict the idea of opposites. It seems that everything would require more than just opposites. So some believe that the characteristics of an object come from particular materials. So it seems that it is best to interpret him as claiming that all material ingredients of natural living things and the heavenly bodies are all present in an original mix but these objects are not the ingredients but are the natural constructions .
Quotations
"There is no smallest among the small and no largest among the large,
But always something still smaller and something still larger."
"The descent to Hades is the same from every place."
Bibliography
Kenny, Anthony. "Anaxagoras." Ancient Philosophy. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004. Print.
Blackburn, Simon. "Anaxagoras." The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.
Kirk, G. S., and J. E. Raven. "Chapter 15 Anaxagoras of Clazomenae." The Presocratic Philosophers; a Critical History with a Selection of Texts,. Cambridge [Eng.: University, 1957. 362-94. Print.
Curd, Patricia, "Anaxagoras", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/anaxagoras/.
"Anaxagoras." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaxagoras.
"The Philosophy of Anaxagoras." Thebigview.com - Pondering the Big Questions. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://www.thebigview.com/greeks/anaxagoras.html.
Patzia, Michael. "Anaxagoras [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 16 June 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://www.iep.utm.edu/anaxagor/.
Anaxagoras
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Introduction
Anaxagoras was a Greek philosopher of the 5th century. He was the first Pre-Socratic philosopher to live in Athens. He came from a Aristocratic family but abandoned it to study philosophy. He had a physical theory that "everything-in-everything". He was nicknamed 'The Mind' for his belief in how the mind played an important role in life. He believed that the mind was divine and spoke of it as if it was divinty. He was described by Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD.
Biography
Anaxagoras was born in Clazomenae, near Izmir. The years are estimated 500 to 480 B.C.He lived from about 500 B.C. to about 428 B.C. He came from an aristocratic family but left that inheritance to study philosophy. He was possibly a pupil of Anaximus. He moved to Athens after the war between Persia and Greece. Anaxagoras was believed to be the first to teach in Athens. He was acquainted with Pericles and Euripides in Athens. Athens became rich and prosphered from the leadership of Pericles. Pericles governed by free choice of citizens. Pericles ruled for about 30 years until his fall in 430 B.C. When that happened Anaxagoras was urged to leave athens. He was being prosecuted for impiety and for holding an astronomical theory, which included the view that the sun is a red hot boy, that is larger tahtn the peloponnes.The Peloponnese was a greek war was fought by Athens with the Spartans. He fled to Lampascus, there he died an honored death in 428 B.C.
Major Works
We have no complete works but scholars have found fragments and can put together his line of thought.
Philosophy
Metaphysical Principles
He believed everything was a work of the mind(Nous). He said that all things were together: then mind came and gave them order. He was nicknamed the mind because he believed that the mind held a divine position in life. He assigned a fundamental cosmological role to mind both as the iniator of motion. The nature of the mind, according to Anaxagoras, is hard to decipher because the mind has contradictory properties. He also believed that everything is in everything. Which means whatever a thing changes into is in some way already present before it changes. Which is basically all qualities are present in all things. Homoiomereiai, which means things with like parts, are of each other. Such as when a warm liquid cools it is believed to that the hot liquid becomes cold.
Physical Principles
He animated the principle of plants and animals. Everything is a mixture of ingredients. Nowhere in his fragments, does Anaxagoras tell what the ingredients are but scholars have began to try and put together his meanings. One of the guesses are opposites such as: hot and cold, wet and dry, sweet and bitter, dark and light. But other fragments contradict the idea of opposites. It seems that everything would require more than just opposites. So some believe that the characteristics of an object come from particular materials. So it seems that it is best to interpret him as claiming that all material ingredients of natural living things and the heavenly bodies are all present in an original mix but these objects are not the ingredients but are the natural constructions .
Quotations
"There is no smallest among the small and no largest among the large,
But always something still smaller and something still larger."
"The descent to Hades is the same from every place."
Bibliography
Kenny, Anthony. "Anaxagoras." Ancient Philosophy. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004. Print.
Blackburn, Simon. "Anaxagoras." The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.
Kirk, G. S., and J. E. Raven. "Chapter 15 Anaxagoras of Clazomenae." The Presocratic Philosophers; a Critical History with a Selection of Texts,. Cambridge [Eng.: University, 1957. 362-94. Print.
Curd, Patricia, "Anaxagoras", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/anaxagoras/.
"Anaxagoras." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaxagoras.
"The Philosophy of Anaxagoras." Thebigview.com - Pondering the Big Questions. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://www.thebigview.com/greeks/anaxagoras.html.
Patzia, Michael. "Anaxagoras [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 16 June 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. http://www.iep.utm.edu/anaxagor/.